During AEGEE’s European Schools (ES) everyone gets inspired and even more motivated. These trainings have a unique, empowering atmosphere, yet the value of the experience can only be understood after attending one. The Information Technology Committee (ITC) in cooperation with AEGEE-León is organizing an Information Technology European School (ITES) in May, 25-30. The AEGEEan interviewed Giuseppe Colicchia (Peppe), speaker of the ITC as well as Nuria Viñuela Rodríguez, coordinator of the event.

The AEGEEan: The ITC rocks. You all are very dedicated to creating a new OMS (Online Membership System) as well as organizing the next ITES where IT knowledge will be shared and discussed among the participants and trainers. Tell us what this ITES will be about?

Peppe: Taking into account the needs of our association, we’ll try to determine which are common situations where IT resources – in terms of collaboration tools and well known software – could be useful, and how. I guess there’s a common thread within these kind of activities made by IT responsibles (and board members in general) across the network, and sometimes the availability of working examples could help a lot. So, stop reinventing the wheel and let’s share best practices! Teambuilding and knowledge sharing need to be keywords in the Committee: OMS for instance is possible just if we make it sustainable, with proper development and support teams.

The AEGEEan: You became a member of the ITC after ITES 2013. What motivated you in joining and why do you think it was a good decision?
Peppe: Last year’s ITES was organized by AEGEE-Debrecen, where trainers gave a global overview of AEGEE technological infrastructure followed up by global needs (with a set of possible solutions) and topics of general interest. My aim was to know more about the AEGEE world – it was my second event after EBM (European Boards’ Meeting) in Valletta – especially from a point of view that fits with my personal interests. It has been definitely a good decision! That general overview and the concepts learned were the kick start to be active on the European Level, and I still get much more of what I give: this keeps up my motivation!

The AEGEEan: European Schools are always exceptionally intense events of our association. What would you tell to potential applicants why participating is highly recommended?
Peppe: We’ll have not less than 25 hours of lessons, where the curiosity of participants will be satisfied by an open space full of resources. It’s not our intention to further explore a single tool or scripting language, it would be in contrast with the idea behind the event: propose a solutions-oriented approach to help board members solving weekly issues using common instruments. The nature of the event is open, some sessions (a 20%) will be filled on demand and participants will be invited to show ideas and solutions as well: sharing is caring, see you in León!

The AEGEEan: AEGEE-León was selected to host the training event. What should we know about the organising antenna?

Nuria: AEGEE-León is a pretty big antenna, with approximately 100 members, our Summer Universities have been among the highest rated ten for several years now, and we work a lot into the already finished Youth in Action Program and now Erasmus+ (we already had 2 European Volunteers, and we will host an Erasmus placement with us). At the next Agora, Spring Agora Patra, we also will sign a Twin Contract with AEGEE-Catania.
Last year we celebrated our 10th anniversary, and this year, with all our new and motivated members, we are in the best moment to host an event as the ITES is. Last months we hosted an RTC and we are working hard preparing and exchange with more locals and our SU.

The AEGEEan: What can participants expect from the city and the social programme?
Nuria: León was founded as Roman settlement and since that time we have a very rich culture and history that you can feel in all the city, with monuments, the old town, our cathedral, the ancient streets…

León has a good atmosphere since it is a students’ city: during almost all week you can find open places to have fun with your friends, drink a beer or even better, a great wine,  and taste our famous and delicious tapas.

In the social program our participants will see by themselves all these aspects: the cultural side, but also the student nightlife.

The AEGEEan: Tell us, why our readers should not second guess themselves but apply instantly to this great event.
Peppe: Take a look at our webpage: would you say it was made in 15 minutes without any deep knowledge? There are no tricks, just resources to use properly and to adapt to your needs. After the event I’m quite sure you’ll be able to create a page much better than this.

Nuria: Because the ITES is not only going to be a European Training School, it will be an event for sharing, sharing of knowledge, best practices and experiences. It will be a good training for all the participants to be ready, to become more active AEGEEans. Also, the end of May is the most beautiful season to enjoy León and its spirit. :)

Thank you for your answers. It surely is an excellent opportunity to broaden our horizon on IT matters. Grab the chance, check out the event’s website HERE and apply HERE.

Written by Balázs Kovács, AEGEE-Debrecen

Peppe Colicchia, the current speaker of the Information Technology Committee, has been a member of AEGEE-Pisa for two years already, even though now he’s back in Sicily, where he comes from.

From his place in “the most beautiful island in the Mediterranean”, Peppe took some time to talk to The AEGEEan about the current plans of the ITC, after coming back from a very intense, but productive, meeting in Brussels to work on the new Online Membership System, which all AEGEE members will soon benefit from…

The AEGEEan: First of all, Peppe, congratulations for being elected as Member of the Month of February! For those who don’t know you, please introduce yourself!

Hi, I am a twenty-twelve years old guy from AEGEE-Pisa! Even if I recently came back to the most beautiful island in the Mediterranean, Sicily.

How and when did you join AEGEE?

I became a member two years ago, when some friends of mine introduced me to the association. I knew them as a group of friends, and they were working in the expansion of an antenna. I went to a first meeting with them and soon we started having lots of fun together and organizing local activities.

Why did you join the ITC? What can you tell us about your time as Speaker?

The approach I had with the ITC was similar as the one I had with AEGEE-Pisa: finding a group of people doing something interesting together and having fun doing it. So now, as speaker, my primary task is to represent the committee, “trying to overview” the activities, understand if there are some tasks in which people would like to be involved and if there is something more to do for the association in terms of IT.

OMS Meeting at the AEGEE Head Office

You were recently at a very relevant meeting for the ITC in Brussels. What was it about?

Yes, in ITC we are managing permanent activities and working on projects. We cannot improve the current system so we are working on a new tool: the Online Membership System.  It has been in the air for a long time but, for many reasons, it was stuck at some points. And now we are working to move on and finding strategies to implement it.

How would you define the Online Membership System, and what can you tell us about it?

OMS is a modular system to manage data inside AEGEE, that means: offering functionalities that will support administration level (CD), European Level bodies, locals and members. The aim is to rely on a single node, this could avoid to have scattered applications that could confuse. It’s long but it’s a need, and the result will be for sure better than the actual intranet from several perspectives. ITC offers real solutions for real problems, and the IT world is more complex than how it appears, but we are very lucky that actually very experienced people are managing our systems (and I think AEGEE members should thank them).

And when will AEGEE members see it implemented?

In Zaragoza we had a progress meeting and we showed a timeline. But going deeper into the project we saw some missing details, so we were too optimistic and we will be unable to fulfill that timeline. Actually there is no release date for that, we are defining step by step things to do dividing the job in small tasks, because it’s a quite complex system. We have a route and we are moving on, this is important from my point of view.

Which other plans does the IT Committee have?

Well, a service we are offering to the locals is the possibility to have for free a website according with the corporate Visual Identity, using a nice web template made by the PR Committee. We are working on a systematic solution to store data hierarchically, so we’ll adopt a groupware for documents and an open Wiki: both potentially very useful for knowledge transfer. We also hope to become Eduroam Identity Provider (free wifi access for AEGEE members). “Dulcis in fundo”, a mobile app for statutary events to provide useful info to participants.

Also, you recently announced that you are organizing the IT European School with AEGEE-León. Who should apply for the ITES?

First of all, I want to thank all three locals who have applied; the choice was so difficult, indeed! We will talk about several interesting things for locals as well as for the people that want to actively give a contribution to global AEGEE needs. I am sure AEGEE-León is preparing an exciting social programme, in the meanwhile we are defining the topics. This ITES could be a first step for cooperation with IT responsibles of the locals, because we think that sometimes they need to reinvent the wheel all over again, so a collaboration among them could be useful, especially for new members. There will be also space to share best practices. The teambuilding is very important, this is what I would like to create.

ITES 2013 in Debrecen

What about you: what makes you so interested in the field of IT? Is it what you work for?

Yes, this is my field and I am currently working on the “technical” side of the advertising world. And maybe I am also a bit geek, so it helps…! But, surprise, I don’t have a smartphone. To be honest, I have a tablet, but not a smartphone… It’s a personal conviction! I hate Whatsapp!!

Could you tell us any AEGEE members that have inspired you?

Pavel Zbornik, for his professionality. Beata Matuszka, for her energy. And Costas Deltouzos, for his freshness!

What about your next plans? Will you be in Agora Patra?

Sure thing, I will be in Patra where ITC will try to have another Progress Meeting to share with the community our work and, as OMS is a project for AEGEE members based on their needs, we will be there listening to them, for a better understanding of the way to build a useful and friendly IT system.

An important re-establishment of the currently-operating solid local dates back to 2009 but our antenna was originally founded in 1991 with the help of Dutch students.

AEGEE-Debrecen has around 40 members but the core team of the most active ones is smaller. What we think is special about us is that we aspire to turn our relative shortcoming of having a small team into advantages. Having a small group leaves us with a clear understanding of each other’s competences. Allocating responsibilities and tasks accordingly makes us able to turn each other into real assets for the antenna and for each other.

Another essential thing is the fun element. Although we are creative and challenge-takers, we do not forget about monitoring ourselves and each other from an outsider’s point of view and we have a great sense of criticism. We do not take ourselves too seriously and prefer not to forget about enjoying participation.

Last summer you took up the challenge of organising the European School & Summer University. 

Indeed. Imagine the first summer ever in AEGEE history when AEGEE Academy encouraged locals to organize a balanced mixture of a European School and a Summer University by merging them into one Summer Event. It was super-challenging for the organizers, trainers as well as for the participants. Yet, “European School: 4 Elements 4 You!” has been an amazingly unique experience for all of us. We rarely visit the same café the first ESSU meetings took place in, but when we do the memories still instantly put us back into that same hyper-enthusiastic mood.

This year we are organising a Travelling Summer University together with AEGEE-Sibiu. “The HungaRomanian Adventure” will be an excellent opportunity for our participants to discover the beauties of two countries: Hungary and Romania. Apart from letting participants discover true Central-Eastern-European hospitality, we will focus on introducing Romanian and Hungarian culture, more specifically by sightseeing and other outdoor activities, by trying traditional cuisine and providing insights into our languages and history. Both Northern-Eastern-Hungary and Transylvania are wonderful and we are all very excited to welcome an exceptionally diverse group of participants here.

Thus, when the Comité Directeur and the ITC issued an open call to find a hosting antenna to organize an Information Technology European School, it came naturally to apply. After our multicultural New Year’s Eve there was time to prepare. The low number of participants also further multiplied the good, cozy team spirit and enthusiasm. We believe that all the opportunities and benefits of working in the field of IT in AEGEE have been clearly presented by our guest trainers, Pavel Zborník and Maurits Korse and we hope that AEGEE-Debrecen has contributed to inspiring potential ITC members. We enjoyed the event and we would gladly do it all over again!

As a focus area in the Strategic Plan of AEGEE-Europe for the period of 2011-2014, Inclusion of Minorities aims at confronting young people with the reality of minority groups by involving them in direct personal encounters in order to create mutual understanding.

Knowing general local realities as well as witnessing the influence of recent years’ global economic and moral crisis in Hungary, we think that such projects are relevant and should be promoted. With the rise of populism and dogmatic thinking, certain minority groups are often falsely blamed for the common bad. Capitalizing on citizens’ lack of knowledge and an increasing xenophobia is pretty frequent nowadays. We hope that we will be able to organize Living Libraries in Debrecen regularly in the future to promote understanding and respect for diversity.

We consciously try our best in keeping our members updated about all the relevant information on the many opportunities AEGEE offers. Weekly local meetings, info evenings at the university, newcomers’ camps, university-based or city-wide cultural and career fairs and summer festivals – these are the regular events at which we promote our local and international activities face-to-face internally and to the external world too. The fact that we have (former) board members currently active on the European Level (Réka Salamon in Public Relations Committee, Liliána Tóth in Events Committee, Diána Leskó in The Euro-Arab Project and Nóra Abdel-Salam in The AEGEEan) makes things a bit more easy when it comes to promotion.

Although the, locally considerable, geographical distances make it quite challenging to have actual joint projects to work on and realize them together, we follow each others’ activities and help each other if we can. As it is one of the largest locals in the entire Network, we regularly have guest trainers from AEGEE-Budapest at our thematic events and at our Local Training Courses for years now. AEGEE-Debrecen members also frequently attend their events. Sharing best practices and striving for a closer national cooperation have also been among the aims of a recent Regional Training Course of Hungarian antennae organized by AEGEE-Piliscsaba in April.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København